Let there be (Kitchen) light!

When we bought the house seven years ago, the kitchen was a disaster. The grout on the kitchen counters was literally growing, the tile floors were trashed, and the appliances were non-functional (or non-existent). The Toile wallpaper really capped off the "look". 

The lighting was a classic 80s fluorescent box light over the island. It was awful, too, but it provided a lot of light, the interior of the box was only rough finished, and our attention (and budget) was all on the critical functional issues. Replacing it has been on the list ever since, but it became critical this week when the old fixtures decided not to turn on at all. 







I spent a considerable amount of time staring at the options available at Home Depot and Lowes. (This was kind of urgent, so I had to make my peace with what they had in stock.) 

I'd already come to the conclusion that a flush-mount LED fixture was probably the only thing that was going to provide a suitable amount of light. What I really wanted was one with adjustable color temperature. What I settled for was a 4000K fixed color temperature, which is a little on the cold side. 



On the plus side, this puppy puts out a whopping 5000 lumens. It's actually significantly brighter than the failing fluorescents. On the down side, like the reviews say, it was kind of a PITA to install and it's a struggle to get the diffuser inserted properly.

Portfolio Flush Mount Shop Light

• 5000 lumens

• Two 34 watt integrated LED bars

• 4000K (bright white) color temperature

• Dimmable 

Taking down the existing fixtures was pretty straightforward. I removed the diffuser panels and cut out the supporting framework. I left the outside trim, as I don't want to mess with retexturing and painting the finished ceiling. 

Since I was doing this by myself, I couldn't just hold up the fixture and mark the holes, and measuring over your head is awkward at best. I triple-checked my measurements and  drilled the holes for the anchors. 

Here's where I made my first mistake: I used the provided screws and anchors. That's almost always a bad idea. (I know that from installing blinds, but apparently I'm a slow learner.)

I propped the fixture up on a chair so I could wire it up. That was also straightforward--and I was thankful once again for having a decent pair of wirecutters. 

Now came the hard part--actually hanging the fixture on the screws. Have I said yet how much I hate working on things over my head? I struggled. I cursed. Tom came in to see what the drama was all about. 

What finally (almost) worked was partially screwing in the screws on one end, sliding the fixture onto the screws, and tightening them down while Tom propped up the other end with a rubber sweeper thingie[1]. Then screwing through the fixture into the anchors on the second end. Phew, success! 

Nope. As I was trying to install the diffuser, one of the anchors popped loose. And the diffuser wasn't going on because the fixture was slightly bowed from the wiring. Second mistake: I should have put spacers in. (Or done it right and moved the wiring to the center of the fixture.)

One by one, I popped the too-small anchors out and replaced them with bigger ones (that by some miracle I actually had on hand and could find). I didn't screw the longer screws all the way in so the fixture wasn't torqued, and was able to get the diffuser on.  Phew, success!

Nope. Turned the circuit breaker on and hit the switch to see how it looked...nothing. Inspected the wiring from the attic space above (more on that later) and everything looked good. Dropped the fixture from one end again so I could inspect the wiring to the fixture. What the heck? Why are there four wire nuts?

Third mistake: Somewhere in the struggle, the wires had come loose. I thought that the wire nut on the white wires had popped loose and fallen. So grabbed one out of my pocket and screwed it on. Sigh. It really helps if the white wires are actually connected. 

Got that fixed, flipped the breaker, turned on the switch, and Voila! Light! Blinding light. Flipped them off and reinstalled the diffuser. 

I'm going to have to go through the hanging fun all over again when I patch the holes and retexture the inset. When I do that, I'll put in a proper electrical box in the center of the fixture (so I don't need spacers), and install a wood brace in the attic so I can ditch the drywall anchors altogether. 

In the meantime, we have a functional light that's a big improvement over the fluorescents (even when they worked). I installed it with the intent to add mini-pendants for the counter seating at the end of the island...one of these days.

Of course, one thing always leads to another. As I was inspecting the wiring from the attic space, I discovered that the ducting to the registers in the kitchen has completely come apart. No wonder our heating/cooling has seemed unusually inefficient. Today I get to learn how to make flex duct connections. This, my friends, is #realitydiy.

[1] The rubber sweeper thingie is awesome, especially if you have pets. Got it at a home show years ago, but it's a lot like this one.

Plumbing Fail Number Six (continued)

For the beginning of this adventure, see Plumbing Fail Number Six, Part 1.

So, the Liquid Wrench made things a bit shinier. Unfortunately, it didn't penetrate enough for me to break things loose. To be honest, I wasn't surprised. I was hopeful...but really didn't have high expectations.

In the end, this project required some tools that aren't automatically associated with plumbing: a cordless Dremel tool with a cutting bit and disc, and a sledgehammer.

I used the Dremel to cut through the nuts that I couldn't unscrew. I worked slowly and did my best to shield myself from the metal dust.

My cordless Dremel is awesome, but I was hyper-cognizant that it would keep spinning if I dropped it. (While working on fittings over my head.)

Patience paid off and I was able to get all but one of the stuck nuts loose.

That last one? That's where the sledge hammer came in. 

The nut holding the center faucet was rusted and fused to the washer. It was still stuck after dremeling. Knowing the nut was seriously weakened, I decided to take a sledge-hammer to the faucet to see if I could break things loose. 

The counter is this horrible resin cultured marble, so I figured it could withstand a little bit of force. 

It worked. (And sledgehammering things is always kind of fun, right?)

The next fly in the ointment was getting the drain pieces out. 

Taking apart the trap was simple enough, but I couldn't get the decorative top bits to unscrew from the drain pipe. The Dremel with a cutting disc and a bit more patience solved that little problem. 

Did I mention that the basin was draining slowly? I'm surprised it was draining at all! 

Seriously gross.

I was initially going to skip replacing the frozen shutoff valves, but "If it's worth doing, it's worth doing right" kept echoing in my head. So, I took them off and went back to the hardware store for replacement valves and supply lines. Removing the old ones and installing the new took a bit of muscle, but I didn't run into any issues. (Thank you, Lowes, for being open New Year's Day.)

Dropping the new faucet in was the easy part. I did have to laugh at the step in the instructions that said to hold the valve assembly from underneath with one hand, and use your other hand to install the retention clip from the top. That might be physically possible for some people, but I'm most definitely not one of them. Fortunately, Tom was around to pop the clips on for me. 

The only snag I hit with the install was when I got to installing the drain closer. I dropped it into the hold and...clunk. Turns out, I had the faucet mounting plate positioned wrong and it was blocking the hole. Fortunately, it was just a matter of loosening the connection, rotating the plate out of the way, and tightening it back up. 

Phew! This all took way longer than it should have, but I now have the "Dremel trick" in my plumbing repertoire. And having successfully replaced one set of the shut-off valves, I'm less hesitant about tackling the others that don't work. Someday.

Speaking of tricks, I also put my iPhone camera to good use. Taking pics is an easy way to get a close-up, well-lit view of things that are hard to eyeball. 

I also used the front-facing camera to get a live view of things from underneath. And capture some of the frustration...